


Peace on Earth

by g-R_e-Y_s-C_a-L_e-S (norwegian_galaxies)



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Albino Joey Drew, Allison is a badass, BATIM, Bendy is a smol child, Bendy plush, Betty the waitress hates albinos apparently, Boris is also a smol child, But it's on the cheek!, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Fluff, For Sammy I mean, Grant is a jerk to Henry, Hahaha but nobody in the studio is a homophobe, Henry is nice, Henry is still here, Hugs, I want to give everyone a hug, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Ink Machine, Internalized Homophobia, Joey isn't a total prick, M/M, Nightmares, Nobody's racist in the studio, Norman has psychic dreams, Norman is gay, Period-Typical Homophobia, Platonic Kissing, Platonic Love, Pre-Canon, Shawn gives the nicest hugs, Smoking, THANKFULLY, Wally is the youngest, but it's only because he's worried about money, except Susie, headcanons, in some way, oof, or else Joey will fire them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-08 07:46:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15238713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/norwegian_galaxies/pseuds/g-R_e-Y_s-C_a-L_e-S
Summary: Henry has been working at Joey Drew Studios for only a few weeks, and he's already overworking. It's no wonder, though, since their profits are low, and nobody seems to be watching the cartoons.Thankfully, one day, he creates a new character, a little demon called Bendy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So! I've been writing this fic for a while now, and I finally got to post it! This is truly an honor *bows*.  
> I don't know if anyone will read this, because I suck at summaries (I always got the lowest grades on them in school). But! That will not stop me!  
> And so, without further ado:  
> Introducing, my first fanfiction on AO3: Peace on Earth!!!!

The clock hands settled on the time 3:00 AM, and the clock chimed three times, loudly, awakening the slumbering form that was hunched over a desk.

Henry sat up and stretched. Of course, as usual, he had fallen asleep at his work desk, and the cartoon he was drawing--he sighed as he realized that the penciled lines had smeared.

He'd have to draw the whole thing again.

He stood up, his back cracking as he did so. He grunted, picking up his glasses from where they had fallen on the floor. He hadn't even gone home the night before. He was so tired, and his neck had a painful crick in it. He walked out of the room and tried to find the nearest bathroom to freshen up in.

Henry realized, with a sigh, that he was probably the only one in the studio at the moment, save for the janitor, Wally Franks. Everyone else must have gone home and forgotten about him. That was honestly something the cartoonist had gotten very used to over the past few months.

"Okay..." He said, opening the bathroom door and looking in the mirror. The smeared pencils had gotten on his face. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Why oh why hadn't he started inking the cartoon? Although, if he had fallen asleep in the middle of inking, the black liquid would have gotten on his face and would have been nearly impossible to clean off...

He grabbed a paper towel and turned on the sink, running the towel underneath it. Henry brought the wet towel up to his face and cleaned off the dark grey smudges on it. He deemed his face clean after a few minutes and walked back out, back to his work desk, and picked up his hat and briefcase and started walking towards the exit.

"Hey," a familiar voice said from behind him. Henry turned to see a man wearing janitor's clothes standing behind him, holding a mop. "Why're you still here, Henry?"

Henry rubbed his temples. "I fell asleep in the middle of drawing again, Wally."

Wally nodded, narrowing his eyes. "Mr. Drew sure does make you work."

"No, no," Henry replied, waving a hand at the janitor. "It's fine. He just wants to make people smile, that's all."

"Pretty sure he just does it for the money," Wally mumbled under his breath. "Oh well, have a good night, sir."

"Goodnight, Wally," Henry replied, waving before walking towards the exit and out into the eerily lit parking lot, where his car was parked, right in front. The other car must've been Wally's. He opened the car door and stepped inside, pressing the key into the ignition and pulling out of the lot.

He and Joey lived in an apartment a few miles away from the studio, since Joey had insisted. He wondered what Joey would say when he arrived this late (early?). Or if he would say anything at all.

Sure enough, it was the former: Joey was asleep on the couch, the TV buzzing uncontrollably in front of him, really only showing static. But when he heard the door, he sat up and turned on the lamp beside the couch, looking up at Henry.

"Why are you so late, Henry?" Joey asked, frowning up at his work partner.

"I fell asleep at the desk last night," Henry answered, hanging up his hat and coat, setting his briefcase down next to the door. "You walked right past me when you were leaving, didn't you notice?"

Joey shrugged. "I thought you were going to take fifteen more minutes and leave. I didn't know you were asleep."

"Well, me falling asleep cost another late cartoon," Henry replied. "Not to mention, I have to redraw the whole thing."

The man on the couch shook his head, a genuinely concerned look on his face. "Henry, Henry, Henry...you need more rest than you let on. How about you take the day off tomorrow and I finish it for you?"

"We don't have the same art style, Joey, won't they notice it looks different?" Henry sighed, rolling his eyes, arms crossed.

"So what? Nobody's actually gonna care," Joey waved it off. "We're still gonna get rich. Besides, you're my best pal. Not to mention that you'll be more productive. So go rest."

Henry nodded and walked away to his room, closing the door and falling, face-first, onto the bed that was wedged in the far corner.

He had to admit that in a way, he absolutely hated his job. He and Joey had founded Joey Drew Studios to make money and cartoons, but the problem was that Joey always worked everyone too hard. Since they had moved to the apartment after founding the studio, Henry hadn't been able to see Linda, the woman that was pretty much the only reason he was still alive.  
When Henry asked Joey why they had to move, he had replied by saying, "Henry, we need to be closer to the studio. Also, we need our own space, not one that has to be shared with some woman." When Henry told about Linda what Joey had said, she seemed extremely offended, but didn't say much in response. She did say that Joey was a dick, then asked once again if Henry was sure he wanted to live and work alongside such an awful, sexist man.

Henry said yes.

Linda sighed and shook her head sadly.

Shaking away those thoughts, Henry rolled over so he was facing the ceiling once again and stared up at the fan that was lazily spinning above. Suddenly, Joey burst into the room, causing golden light to spill into the room. "Hey, Henry!"

"What?" Henry grumbled, shielding his eyes from the light.

"I had a crazy idea!"

Henry rolled his eyes. "Joey, all your ideas are crazy."

Which was definitely true--Joey never stopped having crazy ideas, no matter how unattainable or unnatural they seemed. And they all just popped out at the most random times; at breakfast, while Henry was drawing, while they were driving home from the studio...and now this was added to the crazy mix.

"I know, I know, but listen to this," Joey said, a big smile on his face. Henry could practically see the stars in his friend's reddish eyes.

But he knew he couldn't deal with anything this "exciting" at this moment of time. He held up a hand before Joey could say anything else. "We both need sleep right now. I'm sure that this 'idea' can wait until the morning."

"Dammit, Henry, I might forget it by then!"

"Well, if it's worthy of bursting into my room and keeping me up even later after telling me forcefully to go to sleep, then you shouldn't forget it," Henry replied, annoyed. He knew he probably sounded like a stick in the mud at the moment, but he couldn't stand Joey's over-imaginative self this early in the morning.

"Fine," Joey sighed, walking out of Henry's room. "Have a nice rest, Henry." He closed the door behind him, and Henry blinked, his eyes adjusting to the darkness again. He pulled up the covers and took off his glasses, placing them gently on the nightstand, next to the framed picture of Linda.

*

The next morning, his alarm went off at seven.

He had only gotten three hours of sleep, he realized, rubbing his eyes. But before he could turn off the alarm himself, it stopped. He looked over to his nightstand, and a white-haired figure was standing next to it, one hand on the alarm clock, turning it off.

"Joey?"

"Henry, go back to sleep," Joey snapped. Even though Henry's vision was blurry, he could still tell that his partner was crossing his arms.

Henry closed his eyes again, falling asleep almost right away.

*

When Henry woke up again, it was past 12 PM, and the bright sunlight was shining in through the sheer window curtains. It nearly blinded him. He had to shield his eyes to find his glasses on the nightstand.

Once he got out of his bright room, he sat down at the breakfast table and ate one of the oranges from the fruit bowl. The juice ran down his hand and dripped on the wooden table, and he grabbed a napkin and wiped it off. Right by the napkins was a note from Joey.

 _Henry-_  
Just because I'm letting you take the day off doesn't mean you can sit on your ass all day and do nothing. At least do the laundry or something.  
When I get back, I'll have dinner, so don't make anything. I'll also tell you the surprise from last night.  
-Joey Drew  
P.S: Make sure you clean up after you eat, you goof. I don't like getting my hand stuck to the table.

Henry rolled his eyes. He knew Joey had to have been joking about him being lazy. Even though Joey was pretty much the face of Joey Drew Studios (well, besides their cartoon characters), everyone knew that Henry was the more hard-working one of the two. Though it was true that he often spilled things on the table, afterwards forgetting to clean them up. He and Joey had a row about it nearly every morning.

He left Joey's note sitting where it was on the table and stood to make something else to eat. Looking around in the pantry, it was nearly completely empty. _We're going to have to go shopping, soon_ , Henry thought, after pulling out a cereal box, dumping it's contents into a bowl.

_Maybe that's what I'll do..._

But in the end, he went back to his room and started drawing again at his desk.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two, I hope you like it!

The albino man was not surprised to find Henry cooped up in his room, the curtains drawn, hunched over his desk and drawing again.

  
"Hen- _ry_! I thought I gave you the day off!" Joey yelled, pinching the bridge of his nose angrily. He stomped over and snatched the drawing paper away from Henry, glaring at him. "Henry, what the Hell?!"

  
Henry turned around and reached for the paper again. "I just had an idea for a new character, Joey," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Give that back!"

  
Joey looked at the paper again after holding it out of Henry's reach. Then, the anger on his face disappeared, replaced with awe. "...What is this?" He asked, looking back down at Henry. "Who's Bendy...?"

  
"It was just an idea, I don't know," Henry sighed, pushing away from the desk and standing beside his friend. "He's a little demon."

  
Joey nodded. "He's cute," he said, handing the paper back to Henry, rubbing the back of his neck. "All right, I'll let you off the hook this time, because this little guy looks like a real moneymaker."

  
"You're making him sound like a hooker," Henry replied. "Please, do him a favor and never say that again."

  
The other man just chuckled. "This has to be your best idea yet, Henry! I can see it now...oh, you're a genius!" Joey cried, an unsettlingly large smile, similar to Bendy's, on his face. He pulled a tape recorder out of his pocket and handed it to Henry. "Here, here!"

  
Henry accepted the tape recorder, but frowned down at it, confused. "Um...what do I say?"

  
"Make a memorandum or something," Joey replied. "Everybody else does 'em."

  
Henry rolled his eyes and started the recorder. "Only two weeks into this company, and already it's gotten interesting. Joey is a man of ideas...and only ideas." Henry gave the former a pointed look, and Joey rolled his eyes and facepalmed. "When I agreed to start this whole thing with him, I thought there would be a little more give and take. Instead, I give, and he takes."

  
"Hey!" Joey whisper-yelled, looking over-dramatically insulted.

  
"I haven't seen Linda for days now. Still, someone has to make this happen. When in doubt, just keep drawing, Henry. On the plus side, I've got a new character I think people are going to love." Henry stopped the tape and looked over at Joey again.

  
Joey sighed. "Okay, _fine_ , I'll give you more time to spend with your girl," he said, rolling his eyes. "But I do believe in Bendy, and now that we have him, we're gonna have lots of money rolling in. I'm gonna just say this: for once, _thank you_ for overworking."

  
Henry rubbed his temples and sighed. "You're welcome."

  
Joey stood there for a few more minutes before turning back to his partner. "Say, Henry, does Bendy have any friends? He looks a little lonely."

  
"Yes," Henry stated, nodding. "Boris the wolf. See him?" He pointed to a little concept sketch right beside the completed sketch of Bendy. It was rough, as concept sketches are, but Joey could see a wolf-like figure with pie-cut eyes and a smile.

  
Joey's smile somehow grew even larger. "Gee, they make the perfect team." He looked over at Henry and clapped his hands. "All right, production starts tomorrow! I got the cartoon all inked, all we have to do is get some music to it and send it off. What you're gonna do is draw more cartoons, okay?"

  
Henry nodded. "Now, about that food..."

  
"Oh, yeah. Right." Joey walked out of Henry's room and into the kitchen. "Susie also made some chocolate cake, so we can have that for dessert."

  
Henry laughed incredulously. "You were able to get some before Sammy?"

  
He was, of course, talking about the music director at the studio, Sammy Lawrence--he was quite fond of chocolate cake, and if anyone ever brought any chocolate cake to the studio, it would always disappear under _mysterious circumstances_.

  
The other rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Yeah, thankfully Susie didn't prance around offering it to everyone. Poor guy was pretty pissed when he found out about it, though." Joey pulled two pieces of chocolate cake from a large, white bag, and set them down on the table, before digging around in the bag for the food. "I got us some sandwiches from that new restaurant."

  
Henry's eyes lit up. "Whoa, really?"

  
"Well, yeah, why would I lie?" Joey joked.

  
Henry gingerly set down the sketch of Bendy and Boris on the chair next to him, looking down at them, smiling. Joey was right, Bendy was going to be the best thing that had come out of Joey Drew Studios so far.

  
*

  
Joey stayed up late to watch the television like he did every night, and Henry went to his room to read.

  
He didn't know why he even bothered to read, as his mind was focused on everything but the book in his hands. He was thinking the most about Joey.

  
Joey was mostly focused on the money aspect of his--no, _their_ \--company. That was really the only reason why Joey Drew Studios existed. For some reason, he had an odd obsession with money, like he thought it made the world go 'round or something. But Henry really only went along with his friend's idea so that he could make people happy, as well as to finally do something with his art.

  
Joey's reaction to Bendy was just what Henry had expected. He pretty much implied that the studio should scrap every single idea of a cartoon they had before, and start over with Bendy cartoons.

  
The cartoonist hoped that the turnout would be a lot better than those Butcher Gang cartoons...Charley, Barley, and Edgar weren't as popular as either of them had wished.

  
He stood up to get a glass of water to clear his head, and walked into the kitchen. Joey was snoring away on the couch, the TV still playing some weird cartoon.

  
Henry, after he got his glass of water, watched what was playing out onscreen. _Joey's watching our competition_ , Henry realized, eyes wide.

  
He sat down on the area of the couch Joey wasn't stretched across and continued watching, sipping his glass of water. This cartoon is just slapstick humor, he sighed, rolling his eyes after a few minutes. _That's why nobody likes the Butcher Gang--there's already so many cartoons like theirs._

  
*

  
The next morning, Henry woke up before his alarm.

  
In fact, the device went off when he was out in the living room, waking up Joey, who had ended up staying on the couch the whole night.

  
Joey opened his eyes slowly, before yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Oh, hey, Henry," he said, propping himself up with his elbow, sitting up against the arm of the couch. "Good morning."

  
"Good morning," Henry replied, walking quickly into his room to turn off the shrill, noisy shrieking of his alarm clock. Once he walked back out, Joey was already standing up and stretching.

  
"So, Henry, which one of us is going to get their hand stuck to the table this morning?" Joey joked, walking over and elbowing him in the side.

  
"Hopefully, neither of us," Henry replied, frowning at him. "I cleaned it yesterday."

  
The other man nodded enthusiastically. "Good," he said, sitting down in his seat at the table.

  
Henry yawned and rubbed his eyes, still trying to wake up. Even though he had slept late the day before, it messed up his regular sleep schedule, so he ended up staying up a bit later than he was supposed to and waking a lot earlier, too.

  
"Don't tell me you want another day off," Joey said, rolling his eyes.

  
"No," he replied, shaking his head. "Just a little tired, that's all."

  
"So long as you don't lose track or overwork yourself again today," Joey said, grinning, "that's perfectly fine. Just drink plenty of coffee whenever you feel like resting your eyes."

  
Henry chuckled. Coffee never really helped him wake up; it usually made him even more tired. Joey knew about that, and, for some reason, found it hilarious. He made jokes about it all the time. "So...you never told me about that idea of yours," Henry said, glancing around the room for any indicator of Joey's plan. Unfortunately, the only things on the walls were paint and holes, which had probably come from the previous owner's picture frames. And other than the bills stacked on the counter, there was really nothing else.

  
"Oh," Joey said, waving his hand dismissively. "I already went through with it. Nothin' to worry about."

  
"You sure...?" Henry asked, confused. He frowned. His partner usually told him all of his ideas. Yet, this time, Joey seemed hesitant to tell him about it, after he had come home the night before.

  
The man nodded. "Of course! You'll find out about it soon enough."

  
"Okay..." The cartoonist sighed. "I guess we should eat something."

  
"True," Joey replied, tapping his chin. "Get me some cereal, Henry."

  
*

  
When they arrived at the studio, Sammy Lawrence was walking inside, talking to Norman Polk, one of the projectionists, and Henry's best friend.

  
"Hey there," Joey said to them, walking over. Henry followed soon after, giving Norman a hug.

  
"Hello," Sammy said, around the cigarette in his mouth. He nodded at Henry and continued walking inside with Joey, while Norman started talking to Henry.

  
"Where were you yesterday?" Norman asked, raising his eyebrows in curiosity.

  
"At home. Joey refused to let me go to work," Henry replied, rolling his eyes. "He said it was because I was overworking."

  
Henry's friend shrugged. "He does realize _he's_ the one overworking us, right?" He opened the door for Henry, who thanked him and walked through, into the studio. "I don't know why he even needs me here every day. But if I don't come, he gets mad."

  
"I know, Joey's kind of strange, but I promise, he just wants to get stuff done. That's all."

  
Norman shook his head, seeming to disagree. "I don't think so, Henry. Right now, you're really the only normal person here. Everyone else is pretty odd, especially Mr. Drew."

  
"Henry!" Joey called from down the hall. "Quit wasting time, I need Norman downstairs, and you _drawing_."

  
"Well, I should be goin'." Norman sighed deeply and patted Henry on the back. "I'll see you later."

  
"Bye," Henry walked towards his desk and sat down, frowning, watching his friend walk back down the hall towards Sammy, who was waiting with Joey down the hall. Both men were smoking, and Henry sighed, opening some of the windows, the room filling with cool morning air.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know, I think I'll figure out this formatting...
> 
>  
> 
> ...WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER. 
> 
> Anyway! Here's chapter three!!!

Something had happened in the music department. Henry could tell from the cacophony of noises coming from the floor beneath him.

  
He stood up from his seat, and walked unsteadily towards the stairs, occasionally kicking the wall, trying to bring feeling to his numb feet. _I was sitting there for way too long_ , he sighed, starting to walk down the stairs.

  
As soon as he got to the bottom of the stairs, he blinked, shocked. A bunch of instruments had been knocked over, and Sammy was busy trying to get Susie Campbell's foot out of a drum. "What happened?" Henry asked, eyes wide. He looked around the room, seeing no one else but Norman, who was trying not to laugh, and Joey, who looked slightly confused, but mostly angry.

  
"Those two started fooling around," Joey muttered, rolling his eyes.

  
Susie sighed. "No, we didn't, Mr. Drew," she said, finally pulling her foot out of the drum. Sammy looked down woefully at it, then set it down on the floor. "We're not that childish."

  
The projectionist shook his head, giving Henry a knowing look, and Henry felt a little sick. Norman had seen what was going on (which he always did), and the cartoonist definitely believed him over a lady who had just gotten her foot stuck in a drum.

  
"Get back to work," Joey said, crossing his arms. "And we'll never speak of this again."

  
Sammy was definitely blushing, even though he was still looking down at the busted drum. Norman was laughing quietly in the corner of the room.

  
"Okay," Susie said, ruffling Sammy's hair, then walking away.

  
"Why does she always do this at work," Sammy mumbled, as soon as both Susie and Joey were far enough away.

  
"Do what?" Henry asked, almost fearing the answer.

  
"Fucking...come onto me!" Sammy replied, flustered. "Now I have to line all of these instruments back up, and--" He walked over to the instruments and started lining them up neatly against the wall.

  
"Do you need any help?" Norman asked, frowning at him.

  
"Hm, _let me think._ " The disgruntled musician picked up the busted drum and set it down next to one of the other drums.

  
"Okay, okay, Romeo, calm yourself down," Norman sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Have a drink of water, you don't sound like yourself. I'll get this cleaned up."

  
"I just can't deal with any more distractions."

  
The cartoonist was honestly surprised that Norman wasn't pissed off by what happened, since everyone in the studio knew he was absolutely enamored with the music director. Well, Susie didn't, but she was new.

  
Henry walked back upstairs, trying to forget about what Susie was trying to get Sammy to do. However, the fact that she had gotten her foot stuck in a drum kind of reminded him of something that would have happened in a cartoon...

  
And that actually had happened, he remembered, in the cartoon he and Joey were watching the night before, which was honestly an unsettling coincidence.

  
He shivered and tried to stop thinking like that as he sat back down at his desk.

  
*

  
During the lunch break, Henry, Joey, Norman, and Sammy left the studio to go get something to eat. After browsing around, they finally found a place that all of them could agree on. All four men sat down at a booth close to the door, and a waitress walked over, smiling flirtatiously at Sammy, who averted his eyes and just muttered, "Water."

  
Henry rolled his eyes and ordered water too, looking down at the menu, cradling his chin in his hand.

  
"For you?" The waitress, who had introduced herself as Betty, said, looking over at Joey. Henry saw a disgusted look pass over her features before she forced her incredibly fake smile back on her face. _Ugh, it's because he's albino, isn't it_ , Henry wondered, rolling his eyes at the woman.

  
"I'll have iced tea," Joey replied, after taking his cigarette out of his mouth.

  
Betty frowned at him. "Sir, you do realize that you and your friends are sitting in a non-smoking section, right?"

  
Joey raised his silver eyebrows and turned to see a plaque on the wall that did, indeed, say 'NON-SMOKING' on it. "Oh. Sorry."

  
"Better be," Betty snorted, before plastering a smile back on her face and turning back to Sammy. "You sure you just want water, honey?" The musician nodded, before covering his face with the menu. "All right, then. How about you?" She asked, turning to Norman, who shrugged. "Want me to come back later?"

  
Norman took one moment longer looking at the menu, then said, "Lemonade, please."

  
"Extra lemon?"

  
"No thanks."

  
"Okay," Betty chuckled. "I'll be back with your drinks in a moment." She walked away, her long ponytail swinging behind her.

  
Sammy lowered the menu and sighed. "Can we please not sit here?" He glared at the waitress' retreating back.

  
Henry covered his mouth to keep from laughing. Whenever they went out to eat, Sammy was always being ogled by pretty much everyone. They all knew why--Sammy was, by literally everyone's standards, gorgeous. For some reason, even though it always happened and he should've been used to it, Sammy always got angry whenever anyone started flirting with him or complimented him in general. Henry understood that the musician was easily annoyed, and that he was already in a relationship anyway, but he sometimes felt like Sammy kind of overreacted. But then...he was a musician. And all the best musicians were overdramatic in some way, shape, or form.

  
"No, but if you don't want to be so close to her, we can switch spots," Norman said.

  
And so, he and Sammy switched seats so that Norman was on the outside and the former was on the inside.

  
Betty came back after a few minutes with their drinks. She noticed that Sammy had moved immediately and her face fell, but she handed out the drinks anyway, trying to avoid touching Joey's pale hand as she handed him his drink. Then, she asked them if they were ready to order. Henry already knew what he wanted. He always wanted a pizza, which they usually all ended up sharing. Fortunately, they all had silently agreed on pizza and Joey replied, "One large pizza, half with pepperoni and half without."

  
Betty nodded and wrote the order down, and all four of the men at the table stacked their menus in the center of the table. Norman handed them to her, and she walked away. Sammy picked up one of the paper-wrapped straws from the table and ripped the paper off, placing the straw in the glass and taking a sip. Norman swirled the lemonade around in his glass so that the ice tinkled against it.

  
"So," Joey started, turning to Henry. "You going to tell them about...him?"

  
Henry shrugged. "I thought you told everyone already."

  
Sammy and Norman both looked up. "About what?" Norman asked, tilting his head to the side.

  
"Well, I told Grant, but no one else." Joey sipped his tea before continuing. "All right. Long story short, Henry came up with a new character yesterday, and we both think he's going to be the new face of Joey Drew Studios."

  
The projectionist chuckled. "Really now? Let's see the lil' fella," he said, smiling.

  
Sammy nodded, pursing his lips.

  
Henry withdrew the folded-up piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it, afterwards handing it to Sammy, who stared at it for a moment, before his face lit up entirely and he broke his sarcastic, overdramatic façade. "This character is amazing! What's his name?"

  
Norman peered over Sammy's shoulder at the piece of paper, a thoughtful look crossing his face. "Hm."

  
"Bendy," the cartoonist replied.

  
"Bendy," Sammy repeated, looking closer at him. "He's really cute. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised that once the first cartoon airs, he'll have a _cult_ following him."

  
"I sure hope not," Henry replied, trying to sound like he was joking to cover up his sudden unease. Something about that statement seemed a little unsettling to him. _Honestly, who in their right mind would worship a cartoon character? And a demonic one, at that.._.he sipped some of his water to calm down his mind. _He was probably just kidding, anyway. Calm down, Henry._

  
Joey snapped him back out of his thoughts. "Doesn't matter, long as we make money out of it."

Henry sputtered on his water and almost spit it out all over Sammy, who was sitting in front of him. He elbowed Joey hard in the side and glared at him. 

"Oh, and as long as we make people happy. _Blah, blah, blah._ Sorry about that, Henry." he waved his hands sarcastically in the air, rolling his eyes.

  
Norman chuckled, and Sammy grunted, still studying the sketch of Bendy. The projectionist set a hand on the music director's shoulder. "Hey, quit staring at him like that, you cult member."

  
"Not a cult member," Sammy replied. He pinched the bridge of his nose and handed the paper back to Henry. "Here, thanks for sharing," he said, before glaring at Norman. "I just think it's a wonderful idea."

  
The cartoonist grinned and drank some water, before excusing himself to the restroom to wash his hands. It was (yet another) habit he had that annoyed his work partner pretty much to death.

  
Norman walked in right after him, sighing. "You okay?" Henry asked, frowning at him. He looked a little upset.

  
"What happened earlier in the band room's finally catching up to me," the other man sighed, rubbing his face with a handkerchief he'd pulled from his pocket.

  
_Oh_...Henry took a deep breath before nodding. Norman was mad at Susie again. This happened almost every time she and Sammy were ever together--Norman would stand at the sidelines, acting like he was okay, then later was when he got upset. And Henry knew for certain that whenever the projectionist was upset...he was really upset. He chewed on his lip. "All right, do you need to leave, or will you be okay after a few minutes in here?"

  
"I'll be fine," Norman waved Henry off, splashing some water on his face. "It's just really hard, Henry, y'know?"

  
No, Henry did not know. Never in his life had he been in love until he had met Linda, and even then, there had never been anything like Norman was going through. He had no idea what it was like to love a man. Henry just gave his friend a pat on the back. "Don't worry, Norm. They might not even last."

  
Norman sighed, rubbing his temples, looking in the mirror, wiping off his face again. They stood there quietly for a moment. Finally, Henry sighed. "We should get back out there. Our pizza's probably half gone by now."

  
Norman chuckled, and the other man smiled, glad that he had helped his friend get happier. They walked back out into the restaurant, and sat back down in their seats, acting like nothing had happened.

  
The pizza hadn't even been touched when they came back to the table. Both of them were honestly surprised that Sammy and Joey hadn't eaten any of it.

  
Sammy took the first piece, but kept stealing concerned glances at Norman while he ate. Finally, after a few minutes of eating in silence, the music director set down his third slice of pizza and turned to Norman. "Seriously, are you okay, Norman? You've been acting weird since this morning."

  
"I'm fine, Lawrence," Norman replied, shrugging. "What do you mean?" He took a sip from his lemonade and went back to eating.

  
Henry jumped in before Sammy could say anything else. "Um, so, I was thinking about what the first Bendy cartoon should be. Any ideas?" He looked around at his friends, smiling hopefully.

  
Sammy hesitated, looking like he wanted to say something. Henry met his eyes, nodding at him to speak.

  
"...Let me see that paper again."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, I know this chapter's pretty short. Sorry about that :/  
> The next chapter probably won't be posted for a little while, but that's only because I haven't written past this chapter yet XD   
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

And so, it was decided.

  
Henry walked into the studio the next morning, practically glowing. Joey had gone in earlier than he had, allowing him to sleep a little later once again. He hadn't been lazy with his clothes today, either; a lot of the time he only wore a shirt and jeans, but this time he was wearing a white button-up and black pants. Everyone could tell, as soon as he had walked in, that he was excited about something.

  
Susie Campbell, who usually arrived late, noticed him first, right as he was walking in. "Wow, Henry," she said, smiling at him, her green eyes wide. "You certainly look nice today! Got a date with your girl?"

  
"No," Henry said, grinning back at her. "But I'm sure Joey will tell you when you get inside."

  
"Okay," Susie replied, brushing some of her blonde hair behind her ear. "How _is_ Linda?" Henry's smile faltered, and he bit his lip. He and Linda hadn't really talked since he had left to go live with Joey. He didn't answer Susie and kept walking into the studio. The blonde gave him a confused look, before walking away down to the music department.

  
"Ah, there he is," a loud, heavily accented voice cried from one of the rooms down the hall. A person darted out and Henry was pulled into a bone-crushing hug before he even knew what was going on. "Henry, ya little shit! I heard from Joey 'bout your idea, Bendy?"

  
"Can you let me go now, Shawn?"

  
"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," Shawn chuckled, setting him down. "I'm just so proud of ya, what can I say?"

  
"Thanks," Henry laughed, patting his friend on the back.

  
This process was repeated pretty much every time he met somebody else: they would greet him excitedly, congratulate him...honestly, it built Henry up so high that he metaphorically fell hard, flat on his face, when he heard Grant Cohen's pathetic excuse for a "congratulations".

  
"Your idea will cost us a lot of money," Grant sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He started walking past Henry, who stood there, stunned, but stopped. He turned back around, as a second thought, and gave the man an awkward pat on the shoulder. "But good job, I guess."

  
Soon enough, it was time for them to go home, and Henry hadn't been able to draw a thing, which he heard plenty about when he and Joey left.

  
"Henry, what the HELL did you think you were doing? You were supposed to draw cartoons, not go around chatting," Joey said, face-palming.

  
Henry rolled his eyes and sighed, opening the passenger's side door of the car and getting in. Joey got in the driver's side and started the car. "Well, it wasn't my fault people wanted to come and talk to me about Bendy. I mean, if I was them, I'd want to know the new face of my company, too."

  
"You always do this, Henry, you're so annoying." Joey slammed his head on the wheel, resting it there for a few moments before lifting it again. "But, you're still my best friend."

  
"Then stop yelling at me for 'wasting time'."

  
"We sound like an old married couple," Joey chuckled. Henry rolled his eyes as Joey started the car and pulled out of the lot.  
Henry looked out the side window and didn't talk for the rest of the ride. Signs flashed in the windows of the coffee houses, movie theaters, diners, and motels that they drove past--all of them familiar to the two men. After all, they had driven this road for at least a month now.

  
Finally, they arrived at the apartment complex, climbing up the stairs to get to Apartment #317. As soon as Henry opened the door, he breathed in deeply and sat down on the couch. Joey sat down beside him, trying to rub the bags from his eyes while yawning profusely. After a while, he decided Henry's shoulder would be a nice pillow and let his head rest on it. Henry rolled his eyes at his friend's actions, but didn't move his shoulder, trying to lay down a little so that he wasn't uncomfortable.   
He sometimes wondered about Joey.

  
*

  
" _Wake up_ , Henry."

  
The animator snapped awake, bleary-eyed. He looked around, expecting to see the living room. But he didn't. _When did I go to my room?!_

  
Joey was standing beside his bed, tapping his foot. "The alarm's been going off for an hour. Come on, we're going to be late."

  
Henry sighed, and sat up, his back cracking loudly. He winced. "I must've slept weird last night."

  
Joey shrugged, pushing his white hair out of his face. "Well, you did sleep on the couch for a while. Maybe that's it."

  
"How did I get in here?" Henry questioned, puzzled, furrowing his brow.

  
However, Joey had already left the room, and determined from the sound of a door clicking shut, had left the apartment, too. "Impatient little..." Henry grumbled under his breath, grabbing a pear from the table and taking a bite from the fruit, before deeming it as an okay substitute for an actual breakfast. He walked out of the apartment, making sure he locked the door shut, and followed Joey, who'd been waiting outside the door, to the car.

  
*

  
Henry sat at his desk for hours. He felt his hand cramping up, and the callous on the side of his finger he had gotten from drawing so much was a bright, flaming red.

  
He heard the other workers walking back and forth behind him in their loud shoes, and he eventually had to shut them out by stuffing his ears with cotton balls.

  
At last, he finally got the frames done, and started inking.

  
Inking was stressful, as usual. His hand started hurting even more, so he dropped the pen and shook his hand wildly in the air, trying to shake off the pain. "Ow," he muttered, sighing deeply. But he picked up the pen again, dipped it in the inkwell, and continued drawing.

  
"Hey, Henry," a small voice said from behind the cartoonist.

  
Henry turned around to see Wally standing there, broom and dustpan in hand. "Yes, Wally?"

  
"Joey told me to clean around your desk, is that okay?"

  
Henry nodded. "Sure, go ahead." He stood, and pushed the chair up closer to the desk, moving out of the way. "Thanks for giving me a reason to take a break."

  
"Everybody else's having lunch, sir," the janitor replied, frowning at him.

  
Henry looked up at the clock above his desk. Sure enough, if was 12:07. Seven minutes after the lunch break started.  _Dammit_. He turned to Wally. "Is Joey still here?"

  
"I think he went out, but Sammy and Norman are still here," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry nobody told you. Your hand must really be hurting."

  
The cartoonist shrugged. "It's fine. Thanks, Wally," he said, quickly, before practically sprinting down the hall to the break room. 

  
There were Sammy and Norman, eating lunch together at one of the tables in the back. Looking around, Henry saw that Susie wasn't there. She'd probably gone out for lunch, too. _Good_. He didn't want Norman to be uncomfortable. He walked over and sat down next to Norman, who looked over and smiled.

  
Sammy didn't look up from his food, he just gave a small nod of acknowledgement.

  
There were only a few other people in the break room: Shawn Flynn and Thomas Connor were playing darts, some of the band members and Jack Fain were eating on the other side of the room while having a very heated discussion about something, and Allison Pendle, a piano player that Susie was (for some reason) extremely jealous of, was sitting by herself, looking over some sheet music. Allison always reminded Henry of Snow White, with her black hair, pale skin, and red lips. She was very pretty, but didn't talk to a lot of people.

  
Henry turned back to his food. He'd only had time to pack an apple, and he mentally cursed Joey for that. He sighed and took a bite, rolling his eyes.

  
"So, Norman, you're gay?" Sammy asked, looking over at the projectionist next to him, raising his eyebrows.

  
 _Where_ _did_ that _come from?_

  
"Yeah, what of it?" Norman replied, shrugging, trying very hard not to make eye contact. Henry saw a blush creeping across the man's cheeks, though.

  
"Nothing. Just...Wally said he was hearing rumors about you, that's all," Sammy replied nonchalantly. Norman didn't reply, instead he started picking at his food, biting his lip. Henry facepalmed. _So much for not making him uncomfortable_. "I was trying to make sure that they weren't making things up about you to be mean."

Well, at least he only asked to be a good friend. Still, Norman looked over at Henry, and in that one split second that their eyes met, the brunette knew that he needed to change the subject.

  
"So!" He said, loudly, clapping his hands. Sammy whipped around to face him, giving the cartoonist a weird look. "Has Joey told any of you about his secret project?"

  
Norman looked relieved. 'Thank you,' he mouthed, and Henry gave him a small smile.

  
"He says he wants to build some kind of machine," a voice said from across the room, over by the dartboard. Henry turned to see Thomas, looking straight at him with his bright green eyes.

  
"A _machine_ ," Sammy repeated, incredulously. Then he looked back at Henry. "Well, we all saw something crazy like that coming. He's probably going to dock us a full month's pay to fund that, too."

  
"What kind of machine?" Norman asked, before Sammy could say anything else. His relieved face disappeared and was replaced with an expression Henry couldn't read.

  
Thomas rolled his eyes and set down the darts in his hand, walking over to the table where Henry was sitting. "He said it was some kind of... _ink machine_. I don't really know, but he said I had to help him build it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya know, I just realized something funny about the way the main characters are introduced in this fanfic.   
> They're similar to the game.   
> Chapter One: Joey, Henry, and Wally are introduced.   
> Chapter Two: Norman and Sammy are introduced.   
> Chapter Three: Norman has a bigger part, and Susie is introduced.  
> Chapter Four: Allison and Thomas are introduced at the very end.   
> Hahaha. I didn't even do that on purpose.   
> Anyway, sorry you had to wait for this chapter so long ^_^

Norman was gripping the table with white knuckles, and he looked utterly shaken. "Ink machine?" He whispered, turning his amber gaze on the repairmen.

  
Sammy looked over at him in alarm, his dark brown eyes widening. "Norman?" He asked, quietly, biting his lip. Henry saw clear concern on his face.

  
Thomas nodded. "Yes, an ink machine. I don't know why he needs it, but he's wasting a lot of money on it. It's sure gotten Cohen in a tizzy, that's for sure."

  
"Tommy, get your ass back over here!" Shawn yelled impatiently from the table the repairman had come from, the one by the dartboard.

  
"Just one _minute_ , Flynn!" Thomas replied, glaring back at him. Shawn sat back in his chair with a huff, twiddling his thumbs, shooting him dirty looks.

  
"Great," Henry sighed, rolling his eyes. "So, that was Joey's great idea?"

  
Thomas shrugged, combing his fingers through his brown hair. "Guess so. I just hope he knows what he's doing, because if not, this company's done for." Then he walked back over to the table by the dartboard, picked up the darts, and frowned at Shawn. "You're lucky I'm not throwing these darts at you," he growled.

  
Henry massaged his temples, trying to calm himself down. Surely, Joey has a good reason for not telling me, he thought, looking down at the table. _Maybe he was going to surprise me with something from it? I don't know._ He looked back up at Norman, whose eyes were shut tightly. His breaths seemed quick, yet labored, and Sammy was chewing his lip, worriedly. He was squeezing the brunette-haired man's hand. "Is he all right?" Henry asked.

  
Sammy shrugged. "I don't know," he replied, rubbing gentle circles on Norman's hand with his thumb. "He isn't responding to anything I say."

  
Henry knew how both the music director and the projectionist felt at the moment. Sometimes (and this had been a few years back) he'd been consumed in bad thoughts and would suddenly lose all grip on reality without warning. His parents sometimes called these little attacks "meltdowns" or "tantrums" when he was young, but when the problems continued as he got older, they realized something must have been wrong. So, they got him help, and he hadn't had any more of them since. Despite that, he had no idea how to help Norman at the moment, so he just played it by ear.

  
He stood up and walked over to Norman and Sammy's side of the table, setting a hand on Norman's back, before pulling his own chair over and sitting down next to his friend, listening to his odd breathing for a moment before removing the hand, instead wrapping both arms around him. He felt Norman seize up, but his breathing started to slow down.

  
"S-sorry," Norman said, slowly, his heart still pounding. "J-just, the ink machine."

  
"What about it?" Sammy asked, still holding tightly onto Norman's hand.

  
"I've seen it before." The brunette pulled himself out of Henry's arms and brought his water glass to his mouth. His hand shook as he took a sip.

  
Sammy sighed. "Okay, just...calm down. Do you need to go to the restroom?" His voice was tight, and the sentence sounded harsher than he had intended it to.

  
"Yeah," Norman looked away from him and back up at Henry.

  
"I'll go with you," the cartoonist said, giving him a small smile. "Come on, Norman."

  
"But I was going to go...with..." Sammy trailed off, blushing, and looked back down at the table, resting his chin in his hand, picking at the salad he'd brought for lunch. He knew that Norman may have been his friend, but the projectionist was still closer to Henry. Sammy could understand that.

  
Henry walked with Norman to the nearest bathroom, which, thankfully, had a small bench along the back wall, and they sat down there.

  
Norman took deep breaths, and eventually he calmed down enough to say, "I'm okay."

  
"What happened?" Henry asked him, gently.

  
"I've had dreams about an ink machine, that's all," he replied, his amber eyes downcast. He fiddled with the buttons on his jacket, his leg bouncing nervously. "And they weren't the best, let me just say that."

  
The cartoonist frowned. Joey always said that dreams came true, and that sure worked out for Norman--all of the dreams he had at night always ended up coming true in the real world. Unfortunately, so did all of the nightmares, too. He chewed on his lip. "What was going on in your dream?"

  
"Ink and monsters were everywhere, and the machine was in the middle of it all, looking down upon us mockingly." Norman turned to his friend, eyes wide. "Everyone here was turned into a monster except for you, Henry. I didn't see you."

  
_Well, then where was I, then?_ He wondered to himself, not really wanting to know the answer. _Was I...dead?_

  
"Sammy was turned, too," Norman said quietly, barely above a whisper. "That was when I woke up."

  
Henry nodded, before giving his friend a hug. "I promise, I won't let anything like that happen. I'll let Joey know about your dream, and warn him to be careful."

  
Norman hesitantly hugged Henry back. "Thanks," he said, smiling weakly. Then he stood up, walked over to one of the sinks, and splashed some water on his face. "I don't know why I've been cursed with a sixth sense. It's bad enough that I like men, no wonder I was kicked out of church," he muttered, taking off his glasses and rinsing them.

  
The cartoonist wasn't really sure how to respond to that, so he didn't. Instead, he just waited for Norman to finish with his glasses and then they walked out, together. "Speaking of which," he said, as they neared the break room. "How do you feel now that Sammy... _knows_?"

  
"I don't think he's gonna give me the boot. We had a conversation about gay people the other day, and he's fine with it. In college, he had a gay roommate, and his parents taught him to be accepting," Norman sighed. "But he's probably going to figure out eventually that I like him, and I don't want that to happen."

  
Henry wanted to say more, but they had reached the break room, and Sammy was by the door, looking out for them. _Cripes_. He hoped the music director hadn't heard the conversation.

  
"Norm! Are you okay?" Sammy asked as soon as they walked in. He had stepped out of the doorframe to let them pass. His brown eyes were concerned, albeit a bit relieved to see his best friend no longer upset.

  
Norman's face grew darker at the nickname, but he nodded. "Yes," he replied, before walking quickly over to the table and sitting down.

  
Sammy looked over at Norman, confused. "What the Hell happened to him?"

  
Henry shook his head, deciding not to answer.

  
"Well, God, Henry, what the Hell happened to you?!" Sammy snapped, rolling his eyes before going back to the table.

  
Henry sighed, and began to follow him, before suddenly he bumped into someone, and sheet music flew everywhere.

  
"Shit," a feminine voice cursed, and Henry looked down to see Snow White herself: Allison Pendle. "Sorry about that, sir," the girl muttered, kneeling down to pick up the sheet music.

  
"Do you need help with that?" The cartoonist asked.

  
"No," Allison snapped, looking up at him. "I don't need a man to do _every_ thing for me." She stood up, holding the stack of papers to her chest before pushing past him to walk through the door.

  
He looked after her, eyes wide. _She reminds me of Linda_ , he thought.

  
His heart ached.

  
He missed Linda so much.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's kinda short. Don't kill me ;-;

Henry couldn't believe it.

  
Joey had given him another day off.

  
And that meant he could spend time with Linda.

  
The day before, when Joey had come back from lunch, he had noticed how glum Henry looked. He watched him for a few moments with his crimson eyes, then sighed. "...Why don't you take a day off tomorrow?"

  
Henry had stared at him, shocked. "What?!" He'd cried.

  
Joey rubbed the back of his neck. "Henry, you know I can't stand seeing you upset," he sighed, looking down at the floor. "Go spend time with Linda tomorrow."

  
Henry had noticed how upset Joey looked, but didn't argue. "O-Okay." He bit his lip. "Are you sure?"

  
Joey had nodded, before turning around wordlessly and walking away.

  
Now, Henry was with Linda at the house, where she was currently feeding the chickens in the coop out back, her dark brown hair tied back. She threw a handful of corn to some of the hens that had gathered together in front, waiting impatiently for their breakfast.

  
"Nice of you to finally swing by," Linda said, annoyed, turning away from the chickens to look at Henry. "I haven't seen you for a whole week, Henry. Where have you been?"

  
"I'm really sorry, Linda," Henry replied, looking down at his feet. "I've been working really hard, that's all. I was going to visit a few days ago, but I was too tired."

  
Linda's face immediately changed to one of concern. She set down the bag of dried corn that she'd been using to feed the chickens. She brought her hand to Henry's face. "Has Joey been making you work too hard?" She asked, her grey eyes wide.   
Henry shrugged. "Well, I've stayed at the studio too late, drawing. But it's not Joey's fault, he's been really flexible. Also, the deadlines for the cartoons aren't too close--I guess I'm still getting used to this thing."

  
"I understand," Linda answered, giving him a small smile. "I've been watching all of the cartoons, honey, and all of the work is paying off." Then her face grew stern. "But, Henry?"

  
"Yes?"

  
"You need to get more rest. You're so pale, and you have awful bags under your eyes. Please don't stay up too late." She tugged playfully on his ear, then kissed him, afterwards tousling his hair. "I need to finish feeding the chickens," she said, picking up the feed bag again, reaching inside and tossing another handful of corn at the birds.

  
Henry knew she wouldn't want him to ask for help--she was a feminist, and despite loving the cartoonist, she refused to let him (or any man) help her with anything unless it was something she absolutely couldn't do by herself. So, he went inside the house.

  
It wasn't a large house; it wasn't anything fancy. But it was the best he could buy for him and Linda after only just having gotten out of college. It had a nice yard, though, and in the coop out back, they were raising chickens. His favorite was a red rooster Henry had named Jesse.

  
He was pretty sure Jesse was gay.

  
He walked into the kitchen, where there was a fruit bowl filled with peaches, apricots, and apples. All his favorite fruits. He pulled out an apricot, washed it off, and took a bite. _Delicious_.

  
As he finished the juicy fruit, Linda walked in, taking off her gloves and hanging them on a hook on the wall. Then, she walked over to Henry, smiling her usual, dazzling smile at him. Henry had found, after the past few years, that his favorite feature of Linda's was, in fact, her beautiful smile. It rivaled even Sammy Lawrence's and Susie Campbell's smiles, which was saying something.

  
"Like the apricot, Henry?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

  
The cartoonist nodded, grabbing a napkin to wipe off the juice on his hand and chin. "You know I like apricots, Lin." He smiled at her, standing up and throwing the napkin in the garbage.

  
"Well, of course I do," Linda laughed. "After all, we've been together for three whole years."

  
Henry knew it wasn't meant to scare him, but that last statement did give him goosebumps. They had, in fact, been together for that long. But he was afraid that all this time working at the studio might end up tearing Linda away from him. He didn't want that.

  
Linda seemed to notice his face. "Henry? You okay?"

  
Henry took a deep breath and forced the smile back on his face. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he replied, sighing. "Thanks."

  
"Are you sure?" The cartoonist nodded, and Linda bit her lip. "Whatever you say."

 


	7. Non-Story Chapter Which I Will Delete When The Next Actual Chapter Comes Out (Sorry!!!)

Uh. Hei there. This is sorta awkward to say, but a bit after Chapter Four came out, I became obsessed with Hetalia again. 

I know I haven't updated this story in a LOOOOONG while (well, it's really not that long compared to some other authors out there that completely abandon their fanfics and never update them ever again). 

I just wanted to say I'm really sorry. But I'm not into BATIM as much as I was when I started writing this. And _no_ , I'm not completely abandoning this. It just might take awhile for me to get another chapter out! And I just wanted to let you know, just in case any of you were wondering what happened (which you probably weren't but oh well). 

So, anyway, thanks for reading. And if you didn't spend the time to read this nice little note, then OKIE DOKIE, but I'm not giving you your complimentary have a good day/night. 

For the rest of you that read this: HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT!!!! 

Sincerely, Author-san


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